I would like to see this tackled on the big screen again, but I'm just not certain that it can be done. The story is tight enough, but I think too many will demand insane bodyshock visuals because... well... that's Akira. I don't think this would work so well in live action. Not on the scale that Akira should require.

I'm not convinced it will ever get made. If it does, I think it will be radically different to what we might be expecting.

I think the studio has such a tight grip on what they will and will not allow the movie to be that the big names have all been scared off one by one. They will now end up with the cr*p movie they have tried so long to avoid. I think they'll take as much of the cool visuals as possible and then try to repackage it for children ... who probably won't get it because some of the concepts are quite existential.

This movie will go either one of two ways - Full on dark twisted Akira faithful (yes please!!) or AKIRA for Twilight fans. Not saying they are gonna cast R Patz (who i think could make a good Tetsuo to be fair) but i think Warner will go for a rated 12 watered down version. That will be the death of AKIRA. My casting choices would be James Franco for Akira and Giovanni Ribbisi for Tetsuo.

What this film will demonstrate once and for all is just what a brilliant visionary Katsuhiro Otomo truly was when he created this franchise.

This film will fail because he won't have the level of involvement that he deserves to have and will show that no matter how many scriptwriters, star names or millions of dollars you throw at a project like this it means diddly-squat next to the talent of one visionary person.

Almost every suggested possible star is too old. Akira is about tearaway teenage kids who really don't give a damn about anything. Without that it will be a total waste of time. Some casting ideas (Keanu Reeves?)are utterly ridiculous. So total unknowns please. And don't do it in 3D cos' that would be crap too.

I remain optimistic about this. Akira is surely one of the truly great Sci-Fi movies, and the fanbase / property owners will do everything they can to protect it. It's clear to me that this film shouldn't be a run-of-the-mill commercial project, but something far more profound and daring, much like Blade Runner (someone did earlier mention Ridley Scott). Akira should push boundaries and in the right hands, with the right aesthetic/decent effects/soundtrack/script reworking, this film could be special. So lets wait and see...

Warner doesn't want to make a bad film, but it's about making money. Hopefully The Dark Knight shows that respect to the source material is the path to success, rather than the Batman & Robin approach. Besides, they handled Watchmen with aplomb- and it has the potential to be a Blade Runner. Not as if the original isn't already that good. Exporting the concept could work, but there's a lot of changes to be made. That's the scary part for the fans. I don't think this is necessary, but we might be surprised. Anyway, we can't stop them. The bastards.

...Great news if they do it right and surely the tall one from Ant and Dec IS Tetsuo,(if they dub his accent, obv).I cannot believe Hollywood has not looked at many more of the wondrous anime stories that anyone who knows Japanese cinema, would know about,like my personal faves Cyber City 808,Devil Man,Spriggan and Ninja Scroll,(or did i hear Mr Decaprio was interested in that one).

I like to remain optimistic and previously I thought that with the right writer and director this could genuinely work. As some one else has said, Warner Bros. don't want to make a bad fim and they've got a good reputation for letting creators create rather than stifling them. However, this does reek of compromise. The budget is daft. $90 million is not enough to do a convincing job, although I'm guessing they're saving a bundle on a getting a second rate director. And I'm guessing it's no longer a trilogy. Although maybe they'll wait and see how it does and then make the other two in a Matrix style.

The problem is to make it faithful to the original it will have to be dark, violent and bloody expensive. Bloody expensive usually leads to watered down so the studio can market it to everyone to make their cash back.

Personally I think if you are making intelligent blockbusters that require serious CGI/FX work you should be looking at the new generation of CGI bods who can undercut Hollywood for example the guys who worked on Skyline. They can bring the effects needed to do justice to Akira but without breaking the bank hence you can stick to a darker vision. I'm not saying you should bring in anyone else connected to Skyline though

So many things could and probably will go wrong with this movie. I actually think Garret H. is a good choice considering the options out there (an Unknown being the exception, but naturally I would know what Unknown would fit best). Robert P. as Tetsuo, I dunno. I agree that he fits with the look of Tetsuo, but as for the acting part, I'm a loss. The only movie I've seen of his is Harry Potter and that's very brief. If the script of Akira is to borrow more from the graphic novels than the movie, then RP will be required to portray a more complex Tetsuo. GH as Kaneda wouldn't such a problem. Kaneda is pretty much the same in both mediums. I wonder who will be cast in the other roles. I imagine that there'll be a pruning of sorts because the manga is large and the movie is still quite big as far as characters go. Wonder who will be minimalized or outright cut? Hmmm...